First the Boy Scouts of America asserted its "right" to discriminate against gays. Now this self-professed bastion of moral values plans to expel yet another of its most exemplary members - 19-year old Darrell Lambert, a Seattle Eagle Scout with dozens of merit badges, awards and ten years in scouting to his credit. Is he gay? Has he done anything wrong? No to both questions. The thing that has the BSA's knickers in a knot this time is that the scout in question simply refuses to acknowledge a belief in God. The BSA has given Mr. Lambert one week to profess his belief in God or face expulsion. We all knew the organization was bigoted, but few realized it actually claimed authority under the laws of the Inquisition. Who's next on their hit list? Democrats?

Defending the BSA's position, one of the organization's top honchos said the BSA "is a Faith-Based Organization." Now where have I heard that term before? Oh, I remember now - President Bush wants Faith-Based organizations to serve as the conduits for public funds to administer social programs. Guess we can kiss most of THAT money goodbye.

Several years go, a court upheld the BSA's decision to expel a member who met all of its qualifications and then some - apart from his sexual orientation. The court found that because the BSA is privately funded, it may legally bar from membership anyone who - in the organization's sole opinion - doesn't meet the standards set forth in the twelve points of the Scout Oath: "Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent" (one can't help but note that "Tolerant" is conspicuous by its absence - a quality, ironically, that is one of the cornerstones of all mainstream religions today). Many in the liberal/progressive community were dismayed by the court's ruling, but few at the time saw fit to mount a serious challenge to the BSA's claim that a gay scout might somehow corrupt or otherwise pose a threat to his fellow scouts.

The victim of the BSA's present campaign of ideological cleansing is probably well out of an organization that demands such abject fealty to the dictates of its brown-shirt leadership, and although he has said he will fight the BSA's decision, he probably will not prevail. That's all well and good, but it's high time the Boy Scouts of America was widely exposed for what it is: an indoctrination center for right-wing reactionism that is more similar than not to the Hitler Youth. If a fringe cult run by extreme right-wing wackos were busily indoctrinating children to beliefs so antithetical to prevailing social, civic and religious norms, social service agencies would characterize it as a form of child abuse and courts would step in to prevent the cult leaders from further poisoning the minds of their youthful charges. That probably won't happen in this case, even though the BSA's modus operandi fits this description to a tee, because most of the political leadership (not to mention judges) were themselves associated with scouting.

Perhaps if more parents knew what the BSA really has come to stand for, they wouldn't be so complacent in allowing their kids to participate.

There are MANY articles that provide the shameful details of this ongoing saga, including a few truly unbelievable letters from other scouts DEFENDING the BSA's position (illustrates just how brainwashed some of these kids are).

Use the following Google URL as a link page and just start reading!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=eagle+scout+atheist&btnG=Google+Search

Following article from the New York Times via the San Francisco Chronicle:

( http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/11/03/MN176485.DTL )

*******

Eagle Scout must believe in God or leave organization
19-year-old became an atheist after studying evolution in school

Dean E. Murphy, New York Times Sunday, November 3, 2002

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seattle -- The Boy Scout Law states that members must be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

Darrell Lambert has been in scouting for 10 years. Last year, he attained the highest rank, Eagle. Now a college freshman, he volunteers as an assistant in a troop in Port Orchard, just across the Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula, where his mother is the scoutmaster.

But last week Lambert got an ultimatum from scouting officials in Seattle. Eleven out of 12 was not good enough anymore. Lambert, who is 19 and has been an atheist since studying evolution in the ninth grade, was told to abide by the vow of reverence by this week or get out.

"They say that I should think about what I really believe and get back to them," he said. "I have thought about this for years. Can they expect me to change my beliefs in seven days?"

Mark Hunter, the director of marketing and administration for the Chief Seattle Council, said it was enforcing a national policy. The Boy Scouts is a faith-based organization, he said, and the issue of God is not negotiable. Aside from the vow of reverence in the Scout Law, every Boy Scout pledged a duty to God in the Scout Oath.

Lambert said he was aware of the national policy long ago. He admitted to sometimes mouthing the parts about reverence and God when reciting the law and oath. Other times, he actually said the words. None of it really mattered to him, or anyone else it seemed, until last month when he attended training for adult leaders.

At one session a scouting official led a discussion about religion. The official suggested that the only way a nonbeliever could advance in scouting would be to lie about his beliefs, said Lambert and his mother, Trish Lambert, who also attended the retreat. The official went on to suggest that "a person who doesn't believe in God is not a good citizen," Lambert said.

Lambert took issue with the comments. Many adults considered him a role model and leader in his troop, and he had attained the rank of Eagle after disclosing his atheism.

"I was angry," Lambert said of the session. "I left the room and said I would not be a part of it."

On Wednesday night, the leaders of Trish Lambert's troop, No. 1531, stood behind her son. Sixteen parents -- representing all of the Scouts in the troop, she said -- signed a letter urging the Chief Seattle Council to allow Lambert to stay on. The letter said his atheism had never been an issue in the troop, and it did nothing to change the spiritual foundation of scouting. Trish Lambert said her son should not be punished for "questioning himself and his spirituality."

There seems to be little question that the Boy Scouts have the right to exclude Lambert. The organization won a ruling before the U.S. Supreme Court two years ago that essentially allowed it to set standards for membership. At the time, the issue was the Boy Scouts' ban on gays.

There has been much contreversey lately in the area of the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay members. I am not anti-gay and believe that being gay is fine. However, it simply does not make sense to have gay members in Scouts.
First of all, BSA does have an oath that all members say that includes the words "morally straight". Secondly, supposing a gay boy did join Scouts, he would be avoided at all costs by other boys. it be uncomfortable for the child. Gays should not be in BSA.

Completely baseless smear of the Boy Scouts. If their (Boy Scouts) position on gays is distressing to those who believe otherwise, learn to live with it without resorting to smear tactics. More than a century of scouting under the Boy Scout principles has produced tens of thousands of scouts of every race ,color, or creed, who are excellent human beings. That will never be said about those who smear the scouts, they offer nothing of substance. Too bad.

Not that it's totally related, but at the Minuteman first birthday bash at the Irvine, two boys scouts were there. They participated in the pledge of allegiance, I think one or both held the American flag. I forgot who led the verbal pledge. I wonder if they were there through the American Independent Party or Gilchrist himself.

Some gay men can be scoutmasters. I don't see what the big deal is. It's not different from having, say, a straight man teaching in high school.

Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts is a social and service organization for girls. Led by adult women volunteers, Girl Scouts meet regularly for recreational and educational activities, to hone skills in order to earn merit badges, and to learn how to camp out.

Founded by a strong woman, scouting has always tended to foster and promote strength in girls, and so Girl Scouts has often been a welcoming place for lesbians, as both scouts and leaders. Officially the Girl Scouts do not "discriminate . . . nor . . . endorse" on the basis of sexual orientation. Unofficially, many lesbians have fond memories of the friends and crushes they had at Girl Scout camp.
Sponsor Message.

During the early 1900s, a deaf, divorced, tomboyish Southern aristocrat named Juliette Gordon Low was looking for something important to do with the rest of her life. A visit to old family friends, Lord Robert and Agnes Baden-Powell, suggested the direction she should take. The Baden-Powell sister and brother had founded Britain's Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, and Low determined to bring the idea to the United States, starting with her hometown, Savannah, Georgia. She called her organization Girl Scouts, even though Baden-Powell had thought the name too manly for a girls' group. Within two years 565 girls had signed up to be Scouts.

From its beginnings, Girl Scouts was a progressive organization. Scouts made friends and had fun while learning useful skills. As early as 1928, Scout camps also gave poor urban girls an opportunity to leave bleak city environments and spend time in the country. Scouting was open to girls of all races, creeds, nationalities, and classes, and it gave girls of diverse backgrounds a chance to get to know each other. In 1930, a Native American troop was started in Pawnee, Oklahoma, and during the 1940s, scouting was opened to girls with developmental disabilites and to delinquent girls. Outreach to minority communities continues to characterize the Girl Scouts' commitment to diversity.

The details of scouting have changed with the changing roles of women. Where once girls worked to obtain badges in homemaking skills, such as Embroidery, Laundressing, and Hostessing, by the 2000s, they may earn them for career-oriented accomplishments such as Computer Fun and Aerospace.

When the women's liberation movement of the 1970s began, Girl Scouts embraced it by asking feminist leader Betty Friedan to be on their national board. Over the decades, scouting has remained relevant by providing education and support about difficult issues such as drug use and sexual abuse.

Unlike Boy Scouts, who have remained much more militaristic and intolerant in their approach to scouting, Girl Scouts has softened and modernized the "Girl Scout Promise" and made uniforms optional.

Although at various times in its history, the Girl Scouts organization and affiliated troops have expressed fears about homosexuals working with children and have conducted witch-hunts to purge lesbians from positions of leadership, the Girl Scouts of the U. S. A. has had an inclusive non-discrimination policy since 1980. This tolerance contrasts with the Boy Scouts of America, which took a case to the Supreme Court in 2000 to preserve its right to discriminate against gays.

Though many feel that the Girl Scouts' policy--which states that the organization does not discriminate or intrude into personal issues--amounts to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy about lesbians in scouting, it is still remarkably open for a young people's organization in the United States.

Right-wing organizations such as the American Family Association and Focus on the Family have launched campaigns denouncing the Girl Scouts organization as run by "radical feminists and lesbians," not dissimilar to the charges of "tomboyism" leveled at Scouts in the 1920s. However, enrollment continues to be healthy, and many psychologists believe that the comradeship and skills learned in Girl Scouts improve self-esteem among adolescent girls, a group whose members frequently suffer from feelings of low self-worth.

By the early 2000s there were over 3,500,000 Girl Scouts and Girl Guides and adult volunteers in the United States, and Girl Scout troops affiliated with the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 136 countries.

Upon reading this article was imediatly hit with two emotions, anger and embarasment. I am angry b/c how is it possible to relate BSA, an orignazation the has held and portrayed this country's highest morals and standards since it was created, be compared to Hitlers youth who, from my understanding, were a group of boys being taught to discriminate on everyone who didn't believe as hilter did. That is not the way of the Boys Scouts of America. Yes, the law stats: A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courtiose, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. I am a devout christian and I do believe the Jesus Christ was and is our lord and savior, but reverent in the scout law does not mean you have to believe in God or Jesus. It requires that you believe in a higher power. Weather it be God, Jesus, Budah, Ghandi, the sun god, Zeus, the four spirits of the world (earth, wind, fire, and water), or the Jelly donut in the coffee shop. If this young Eagle scout believes their is no god, that is his choice. Do not punish him fo rhis beliefs, do not judge him for his beliefs. Judge him for what he HAS accomplished, what he is doing now, and how he is giving back to not only the scouting community but the comunity as a whole.
Darrell, I saulte you for not backing down on your beliefs when others challenged you. They may try to take your rank of Eagle scout, but the Eagle badge is only a badge. What is in your heart and your actions is what makes you an Eagle Scout.

I didn't think of the BSA as a "faith based organization". It is a camping based organization that, if anything, is about maintaining the forest. They also taught about things like community service, and making things with your hands.

They could have been ecological communists. (In fact, I bet there are eco-communist organizations that do the exact same thing as the BSA.) They could have even been pagan wood worshipers, and the organization could have been the Boy Pagans of America.

Every sect, political strain, and ethncity try to claim the forests as their own, because they're such a great thing. Then, when they get a foothold in the woods, some of them want to kick everyone else out.

Note that the original post is not about gay scouts.

It's about religion.

Some guys reflexively think all criticisms about the BSA are about gender identity.

Imagine camping with them.

"Hey Mark, Steven, does this bannock bread look ok?"

Mark and Steven: "What, do we LOOK gay?"